By Palestine Chronicle Staff
The Israeli army on Tuesday arrested five Palestinian school children on their way home in the Kafr Malik village east of Ramallah. The children were taken to an illegal settlement, which is partially built on land that belongs to Kafr Malik.
قوات الاحتلال تعتقل الطلاب: جهاد بعيرات، وفهد بعيرات، وياسين احمد بعيرات، أسيد حمايل، ورشيد حمايل خلال مواجهات في بلدة كفر مالك شرق رام الله.
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 8, 2018
The arrests took place during clashes between Israeli soldiers and residents of the village.
The children were taken to an army base in the ‘Ofra’ settlement, illegally built on the village’s land and that of the neighboring Silwad town. The kids were severely beaten, Ma’an News Agency reported.
Palestinian media named the children as: Jihad Bairat, Fahad Bairat, Yassin Bairat, Osaid Hamayel and Rashid Hamayel.
من المقرر أن يفرج الاحتلال الصهيوني اليوم الخميس عن الأسير جهاد محمد بعيرات، من بلدة كفر مالك، قضاء مدينة رام الله، وذلك بعد أن أنهى مدة حكمه كاملة في سجون الاحتلال والبالغة 8 أشهر .#إعلام_الأسرى#ثائرون_فلسطينيون pic.twitter.com/CIALRhaMy9
— مكتب إعلام الأسرى (@AsraMediia) January 25, 2018
Since 2015, Israel has lowered the minimum age of criminal responsibility, allowing Palestinian children as young as 12 to be arrested and charged, thus making it easier for judges to hand down lengthy sentences to minors.
More than 350 Palestinian children are in Israeli prisons where, according to human rights groups, they endure mistreatment.
(PalestineChronicle.com)
